Cabinet Office

Civil Servants: Pay and Workplace Pensions

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many civil servants have their (a) payroll and (ii) pensions managed by private limited company Shared Services Connected Ltd; what was the cost to the public purse of using this company in (i) 2020-21 (ii) 2021-22 and (iii) 2022-23; and whether he plans to take steps to administer the payroll and pensions of all civil servants in-house.

Alex Burghart: Shared Services Connected Ltd (SSCL) services are provided to approximately 260,000 civil servants across the Health and Safety Executive, Office for Nuclear Regulation, Ministry of Justice, Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, Home Office, Department for Work and Pensions and Cabinet Office. SSCL costs for all Independent Shared Services Centre Two (ISSC2) departments in calendar year 2020 were £171m and for calendar year 2021 were £206m. This change was due to a surge of short term and catch up volumes as a result of the COVID pandemic and project start ups. 2022 calendar year costs have not yet been published. SSCL are contracted to perform as-is services until October 2025. Future service provision, beyond this date, is currently being considered for the whole of the civil service. This system saves duplication of effort across government departments, enabling them to focus work and resources on the British people’s priorities.The costs stated are for all services provided by SSCL which include HR, Finance, Recruitment and Procurement Services. Across all streams, they process approximately 6 million transactions per annum.

Import Controls

Alex Norris: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he plans to publish guidance for businesses on the Border Target Operating Model.

Alex Norris: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment has been made of the timescales required by businesses to prepare for the implementation of the Border Target Operating Model from October 2023.

Alex Norris: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment has been made of the costs to business of preparing for the implementation of the Border Target Operating Model from October 2023.

Alex Norris: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Border Target Operating Model on supply chains.

Alex Burghart: I refer the Honourable Member to the answers provided to the Member for Buckingham for parliamentary questions 183958, 183959, 183960, and 183961.

Cybersecurity

Dr Jamie Wallis: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of whether amendments to the Computer Misuse Act 1990 will be required to deliver the National Cyber Strategy.

Jeremy Quin: The Home Office recently carried out a review of the Computer Misuse Act, which led to a public consultation on proposals for new powers to assist law enforcement agencies in tackling these threats. They are currently analysing the responses to these proposals.The Cabinet Office will work with the Home Office to consider implications.

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

Energy

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what analysis his Department has undertaken of the comparative cost to consumers of (a) an electricity system with nuclear as part of the energy mix and (b) a system based on variable renewables alone; and if he will place a copy of this assessment in the House of Commons Library.

Amanda Solloway: The “Modelling 2050 – Electricity System Analysis” publication,[1]presents aggregated outputs for thousands of power sector scenarios in 2050 and shows that a range of different technology mixes can achieve Net Zero at similar costs (Figure 11). This work did not look at a renewable only scenario (e.g. wind, solar, and tidal) as this cannot ensure security of supply. [1] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/modelling-2050-electricity-system-analysis

Nuclear Power

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to the statement in the document Energy Security Bill factsheet: Great British Nuclear, updated on 9th May 2023, that nuclear power provides continuous power, if he will place in the Library a copy of his Department’s definition of the word continuous.

Andrew Bowie: Nuclear power provides continuous power in that it is a non-weather-dependent energy source, it is a proven technology that is an important part of our energy mix. It provides stability to the grid – supplying a solid foundation for power generation on which renewable technologies can build. To give a specific example, we need sources like nuclear for days like December 11th 2022, when wind only provided 3.8 percent of UK electricity, and solar less than one percent whilst nuclear produced a steady 15 percent in line with current capacity.

Energy Bills Rebate: Park Homes

Stephen Farry: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many park home applications for the (a)Energy Bills Support Scheme and (b) Alternative Fuel Payment have been made in Northern Ireland; and how many applications are still in process.

Amanda Solloway: Application numbers for the Energy Bills Support Scheme Alternative Funding and the Energy Bills Support Scheme Alternative Funding for Northern Ireland were published on 11 May.In Northern Ireland the £600 Energy Bills Support Scheme Alternative Funding for households without a domestic electricity meter, such as park home residents, also includes the Alternative Fuel Payment.Application figures can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/energy-bills-support-scheme-alternative-fund-gb-ni-and-alternative-fuel-payment-alternative-fund-applications-made-by-customers.

Carbon Emissions

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of proposals to introduce an explicit legal duty for Ofgem to support work towards the UK's net zero targets.

Graham Stuart: On 10th May, the Government published a consultation for a Strategy and Policy Statement (SPS) for energy policy, which sets out Ofgem's role in promoting the UK's net zero targets. Ofgem will be required to have regard to the SPS, and has a statutory duty to protect consumer interests in the reduction of greenhouse gases.

Department of Health and Social Care

Coronavirus: Protective Clothing

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what peer-reviewed evidence UK Health Security Agency holds on the effectiveness of wearing face masks in public for the prevention of transmission of covid-19.

Maria Caulfield: Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and one of its predecessor organisations, Public Health England, undertook and published multiple rapid evidence reviews on the effectiveness of face coverings in community settings for the prevention of transmission of COVID-19. The first review of the effectiveness of face coverings masks in non-healthcare settings was published on 26 June 2020, with the first updated published on 29 January 2021, followed by a second update on 9 November 2021.The second update included 25 studies, two randomised controlled trials and 23 observational studies. Although the quality of the evidence was low/medium, it predominantly suggested that face coverings help to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in the community, through source control, wearer protection and universal masking. 14 of the 25 studies identified were peer-reviewed, nine were preprints and two were non-peer-reviewed reports. All studies were assessed by an experienced UKHSA evidence reviewer and checked by a second reviewer using the quality criteria checklist.Due to the pace of the UKHSA COVID-19 pandemic response, independent peer review was not sought prior to publication but all evidence reviews have been subject to an internal quality assurance and formal clearance process prior to publication. All UKHSA publications contain information regarding evidence quality and review processes included for each subject reviewed.

Hospitals: Agency Workers

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussion he has had with NHS hospitals in England on the matter of hospitals having to pay higher fees for agency workers due to additional two bank holidays this year.

Will Quince: The Secretary of State has not had discussions on this matter. Agency price caps for bank holidays are capped at Sunday rates. We know that National Health Service trusts that pay enhancements on bank holidays, for both substantive and bank employees, attract more staff, meaning most shifts are filled before agencies are approached. NHS trusts use workforce optimisation tools such as the use of e-rostering and e-job planning to allow the NHS to efficiently schedule staff rotas around public holidays.

Marriage: Relatives

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the health implications of first cousin marriages.

Maria Caulfield: The first ever National Health Service genomics strategy, published in October 2022, seeks to drive equity in access to genomic testing. One of the ways NHS England is driving equity in access to genomic testing is through the roll out of culturally competent genetics services for consanguineous couples.Culturally competent genetics services for consanguineous couples aims to improve access to genomics services for underserved groups and give families the opportunity to make informed reproductive decisions, whilst respecting their culture, values and beliefs. Through the Equity & Equality Guidance for Local Maternity & Neonatal Services, NHS England will provide around £2.7 million of funding over three years to improve access to culturally sensitive care for families in high need areas and to make available training and support for all health and care professionals.

Department of Health and Social Care: Holiday Leave

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential implications of the Employment Appeal Tribunal ruling in the 2017 case of Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council v Willetts & Ors for the calculation of holiday pay entitlement for staff in her Department; and if he will make a statement.

Will Quince: The Department does not currently have a mechanism in place relating to the implications of the 2017 Employment Appeal Tribunal ruling, however our intention is to have this in place in due course.

Autism: Children

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the availability of mental health units for children with autism in England.

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of mental health facilities are suitable for children with autism.

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many beds were available in designated mental health facilities for children suffering from autism in England as of 11 May 2023.

Maria Caulfield: NHS England is committed to improving health and care services so that more people with a learning disability and autistic people can live in the community, with the right support, and close to home.There are 75 mental health units for children and young people and all these units can provide care and treatment for autistic young people. Reasonable adjustments should be considered for all autistic people who are admitted to inpatient mental health services. NHS England has also published the sensory friendly resource pack that gives guidance about healthcare environments being suitable for autistic people which is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/sensory-friendly-resource-pack/As of 12 May 2023, the number of beds available exceeded the number of children and young people awaiting an assessment or admission to a specialist mental health inpatient unit. However, before admitting a child or young person a number of factors including what treatment may be required, complexity within the unit, patient mix, distance from home/family, Care Quality Commission rating and staffing capacity amongst others must be considered to ensure the admission is in the best interests of the young person and their family.In January, NHS England published the co-produced Dynamic support register and Care (Education) and Treatment Review policy which focuses on local systems being able to identify people with increasing health and care needs who may require extra support, care and treatment in the community as a safe and effective alternative to admission to a mental health hospital, and ensuring that Care, Education and Treatment Reviews continue to be effective in ensuring people are receiving appropriate care and treatment.

Chase Farm Hospital: Opening Hours

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact on the provision of healthcare services of reduced opening hours at Chase Farm Urgent Care Centre.

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of accident and emergency provision in Enfield North constituency.

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of walk in healthcare centres in (a) Enfield North constituency and (b) England.

Will Quince: No specific assessments have been made as the configuration of local urgent care services including opening hours are a decision for local providers and commissioners.The Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust has set out that there is a temporary change to opening hours at the Chase Farm Urgent Care Centre while staff recruitment is completed.

Tourette’s Syndrome: Research

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to increase funding into the (a) causes of and (b) treatments for Tourette’s syndrome.

Will Quince: The Department commissions research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). In 2021-22, the NIHR spent £120 million on mental health research, which is a significant year on year increase in investment and we expect this funding to continue in the future. The Department has not assessed funding allocated for Tourette’s syndrome; it is not usual practice to ring-fence funds for particular topics or conditions. The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including the causes and treatments of Tourette’s syndrome.

Visual Impairment: Surgery

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of commissioning independent sector treatment centres to perform combined cataract and glaucoma procedures.

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will take steps to support pilots of cataract and glaucoma joint procedures in independent sector treatment centre settings.

Will Quince: No specific assessment has been made on commissioning independent sector treatment centres to perform combined cataract and glaucoma procedures. Independent sector providers have a significant role to play in supporting the National Health Service as trusted partners to recover elective services. Use of the independent sector will support our efforts to tackle the backlog and deliver value for money.Joint regular reviews of demand for services and available capacity will support the clinically appropriate transfer of high volume and low complexity conditions to the independent sector. The Health and Care Act 2022 made it easier for commissioners, and different types of providers, to work together to tackle long standing issues in their area, learn from each other, and try new ways of joint working. This will include testing new models of care, pooling budgets, and giving local areas the flexibility to design teams that best meet their needs.

NHS: Career Development

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help non-medical NHS staff to access career progression opportunities.

Will Quince: The Government has committed to improve career development for non-medical National Health Service staff in several ways. There are a wide range of clinical and non-clinical apprenticeships at all levels within the NHS, to enable staff to progress their careers within their chosen profession. In addition, new steps we have committed to take include improving support for newly qualified healthcare registrants, working with the NHS Staff Council to ensure job profiles are consistently applied, and amending terms and conditions to ensure NHS staff who undertake apprenticeships as part of their agreed career development can maintain their basic pay.

Radiology: Paediatrics

Greg Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to tackle the impact of unequal access to paediatric interventional radiology services on (a) survival rates and (b) life-long health complications for children eligible for this care.

Helen Whately: The Surgery in Children Clinical Reference Group (CRG) provides clinical leadership and advice to NHS England and the Surgery in Children Operational Delivery Group, including on paediatric imaging and interventional radiology. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the Programme of Care, the CRG and the Surgery in Children Operational Delivery Networks (ODNs) have had to prioritise surgery restoration and recovery, however, the issues linked to the concerns raised about access to interventional radiology are to be presented to the Women and Children’s Programme of Care on the 28 June 2023 and will also be presented to ODNs to incorporate into their respective network work programmes during 2023/24. Equal access will also be the subject of discussions between NHS England and the Department.

Radiology

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the report by the Royal College of Radiologists entitled Improving Paediatric Interventional Radiology services in the UK, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the report's findings on (a) the number of consultant paediatric interventional radiology posts in the UK and (b) the proportion of those that are outside London.

Greg Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of The Royal College of Radiologists’ findings that there are (a) 12 consultant paediatric interventional radiology posts in the UK and (b) five paediatric interventional radiology posts based outside London; and if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the number of those posts.

Sir George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Royal College of Radiologists report entitled Improving Paediatric Interventional Radiology services in the UK, published in April 2023, if he will make assessment of the potential implications for his Department's policies of that report's findings that (a) there are 12 paediatric interventional radiology consultant posts in the UK and (b) of those posts, five are located outside London.

Helen Whately: The Department will be discussing the geographic spread of posts with NHS England.I have agreed to meet the Royal College of Radiologists so this matter will also be discussed in a meeting with them.

Carers

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what (a) practical and (b) financial support the Government plans to provide to unpaid carers in (i) Liverpool and (ii) the UK.

Helen Whately: Adult social care is a devolved matter and Devolved Administrations are responsible for delivery of services and support to carers in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. In England, under the Care Act 2014, local authorities are required to undertake a Carer’s Assessment for any unpaid carer who appears to have a need for support, and to meet their eligible needs on request from the carer.In 2023/24, £327 million has been earmarked in the Better Care Fund to provide short breaks and respite services for carers, as well as additional advice and support.In addition, the Governments of the United Kingdom provide financial support to unpaid carers through Carer’s Allowance, the Carer Element in Universal Credit and through other benefits.

Department for Business and Trade

Department for Business and Trade: Artificial Intelligence

Richard Thomson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether her Department uses automated decision making.

Nigel Huddleston: The Department uses a range of tools to aid decision making to generate insight from large and complex data. All decisions are made by officials and Ministers.

Trade Advisory Groups: Trade Unions

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether those representatives nominated by the Trade Unions Congress will be accepted onto the Government’s Trade Advisory Groups; and if she will make a statement.

Nigel Huddleston: A review of Trade Advisory Groups began prior to the creation of the Department for Business and Trade and increased in scope at that point. The Department is reforming its approach to external engagement, to meet the needs of industry and match the priorities of the new Department. During this period, no new appointments have been made to these groups. Engagement with unions will continue regardless of any new format and my Rt Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business and Trade recently met with the Secretary General of the Trades Union Congress.

Adani

Martin Docherty-Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether (a) she, (b) Ministers in her Department and (c) officials in her Department have met (i) Gautam Adani and (ii) representatives of the Adani Group in the last five years.

Nigel Huddleston: The Secretary of State has not met Gautam Adani. The then Minister for Investment, Lord Grimstone of Boscobel Kt met Gautam Adani at the World Economic Forum in Davos on 25 May 2022.Officials have met the representatives of Adani Group on a number of occasions over the past five years, including most recently at a meeting in December 2022 between a representative of Adani Defence and the Director of UK Defence and Security Exports.

Small Businesses: Competition

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to (a) promote the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises and (b) help businesses compete effectively in global markets.

Nigel Huddleston: We are committed to helping small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) grow. Our support includes access to the free Business Support Helpline, one of the 38 Growth Hubs across England, Help to Grow: Management scheme or visit the newly-launched Help to Grow website. Businesses can access government-backed finance from the British Business Bank for Start Up Loans programme and Recovery Loan Scheme. Through our Export Strategy, ‘Made in the UK, Sold to the World’ the Department for Business and Trade provides extensive support and advice to SME businesses, whether they are considering exporting, learning how to go about it, or expanding into new markets.

Department for Business and Trade: Holiday Leave

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications of the Employment Appeal Tribunal ruling in the 2017 case of Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council v Willetts & Ors for the calculation of holiday pay entitlement for staff in her Department; and if she will make a statement.

Nigel Huddleston: The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) are aware of the ruling in the relevant Employment Appeal Tribunal and have been working to implement this with our shared services provider, UK Shared Business Services (UKSBS). We expect this request to be processed following the Machinery of Government (MoG) staff payroll transfer.

Trade Advisory Groups

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, when she expects the review of the Trade Advisory Groups to conclude; and if she will make a statement.

Nigel Huddleston: A review of Trade Advisory Groups began prior to the creation of the Department for Business and Trade and increased in scope at that point. The Department is reforming its approach to external engagement, to meets the needs of industry and match the priorities of the new Department. A new approach will be set out in due course, but in the meantime the Department continues to engage with a full range of interested parties on key issues.

Energy Intensive Industries

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how much the Government (a) collected in carbon taxes and (b) provided in subsidies to energy intensive industries in last 12 months.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: Although not a carbon tax, the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) was introduced in January 2021, setting a cap on the total amount of greenhouse gas emissions that can be emitted by the sectors it covers. In 2022 it raised around £6 billion, though amounts can vary and in previous years this has been lower - such as around £1 billion in 2021-22.The value of relief provided to eligible companies under Energy Intensive Industries (EII) schemes for financial year 2021-22 is just over £541 million. This is the most recent period for which full data is available.

Remembrance Day: Public Holidays

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will establish an additional bank holiday to honour veterans on the Monday after Remembrance Sunday.

Kevin Hollinrake: The Government recognises the sacrifices made by so many veterans and the huge debt of gratitude owed to those who have served their country.The Government regularly receives requests for additional bank and public holidays to mark a variety of occasions, but we believe that the current pattern of bank holidays is well established and accepted.In addition, as annual leave entitlement has increased for many workers in recent years, we do not have any plans to create another permanent bank holiday at this time.

Export Controls: China

Mr Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, for what reason there is a requirement for UK manufacturers to raise standard individual export licences applications for specific products into China.

Nigel Huddleston: An export licence is required to export controlled items including military goods, software and technology and dual-use items specified on the dual-use list from the United Kingdom to another country. A consolidated list of strategic military and dual-use items that require export authorisation is published on GOV.UK and can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-strategic-export-control-lists-the-consolidated-list-of-strategic-military-and-dual-use-items-that-require-export-authorisationIn addition, items not included in this list may be subject to an export licence for China if they are or may be intended, in their entirety or in part, for use for use in a Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) programme or intended for a military end-use.All export licence applications are assessed on a case-by-case basis against the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria. HM Government published guidance for Standard individual export licences (SIELs) which can be accessed on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/standard-individual-export-licences

Members: Correspondence

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, when she plans to respond to the emails from the hon. Member for Sefton Central of 13 September 2022 and 17 February 2023.

Nigel Huddleston: Correspondence received from hon. Members are responded to within the Cabinet Office guidelines. The Department for Business and Trade has not received the correspondence in question. If the member can resend to badenoch.correspondence@trade.gov.uk this will be dealt with as a priority matter.

Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential preference erosion impact of accession to CPTPP; and if she will make a statement.

Nigel Huddleston: As part of the UK’s negotiations to accede to CPTPP the Government carefully considered the impact on developing countries, seeking to achieve a careful balance between supporting developing country economies and reducing poverty through trade, while protecting the interests of UK businesses and consumers.Alongside our FTA negotiations, the Government is continuing to use our independent trade policy to introduce the Developing Trading Scheme – one of the most generous trading preference schemes in the world aimed at helping countries develop through trade.

Regulation

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 24 April 2023 to Question 180241 on Regulation, where the Government stores  archival records for the (i) Regulatory Impact Unit, (ii) Better Regulation Executive and (iii) Department for Business, Energy and Regulatory Reform; and whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of reform of those policy areas since the referendum on the UK's membership of the EU.

Kevin Hollinrake: Records relating to those bodies, if they have been retained, are stored in external storage (managed by ex-BEIS) and reviewed by either ex-BEIS or DBT in accordance with Public Records legislation to assess whether they are historically significant, should be retained by the department or can be destroyed.Records are reviewed before they reach 20 years old and the oldest records are reviewed first. Assessments are made during the review process.

Environment Protection

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the recommendations in Council of Europe report entitled Safeguarding democracy, rights and the environment in international trade, published in April 2023, on protecting the environment.

Nigel Huddleston: As an independent nation in control of our trading future, the UK government considers a broad range of factors when developing international trade policy – including benefits to the UK economy and our international obligations.In line with those international obligations, the Government will continue to ensure that our trade policy reflects our high standards and protections – both in new trade agreements and via multilateral fora.Having secure and growing trading relationships can increase UK influence and assist open conversations with partners on a range of issues, many of which are listed in the Council of Europe report “Doc. 15739”.

Department for Work and Pensions

Asbestos: Health Hazards

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to ensure employers in high-risk industries comply with regulations to manage and remove asbestos.

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he plans to introduce (a) legislation or (b) regulations to protect workers from asbestos exposure.

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he plans to introduce additional training and resources to help employers and workers manage the risk of asbestos exposure.

Mims Davies: In Great Britain the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 (CAR) are in place to protect workers from asbestos exposure. These regulations require dutyholders to assess whether asbestos is present in their buildings, the condition it is in and to draw up a plan to manage the risk associated with asbestos including removal if it cannot be safely managed in place. Dutyholders must not undertake any work to remove, or that is liable to disturb, asbestos unless they have assessed the presence and condition of any Asbestos Containing Material (ACM), identified the risks of exposure to asbestos and prepared a written plan of work detailing the activity and controls to protect workers. Anyone liable to disturb asbestos during their work must have received the correct level of information, instruction, and training to enable them to carry out their work safely, competently and without risk to themselves or others. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) does not have any plans to introduce additional training for dutyholders. The Second Post Implementation Review (PIR) for CAR found that the regulations are achieving their intended objectives and it is not necessary to amend them or introduce any additional legislation. For work with ACM’s which is considered high risk HSE operates a licensing regime to ensure that those carrying out such work demonstrate that they are competent and have current knowledge to protect the health & safety of everyone involved with and affected by the work. HSE are actively engaging with duty holders and other stakeholders to raise awareness of the legal requirements and ensure standards and competence are maintained.

Asbestos: Licensing

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many licenses have been revoked by the Health and Safety Executive’s Asbestos Licensing Unit in each year since 2010.

Mims Davies: The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) uses a range of regulatory approaches to ensure compliance with licensing. Licenses are revoked in the most serious cases, but licences can also be refused at re-application; additional conditions added; or additional inspections carried out to more closely monitor a licensee. The statistics for asbestos licences revoked each year from 2010 are as follows: Year*Number of revocations2010 - 201122011 - 201202012 - 201312013 - 201412014 - 201502015 - 201602016 - 201702017 - 201802018 - 201912019 - 202002020 - 202102021 - 202202022 - 20231

Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill, what representations he has received from external organisations on the potential merits of retaining the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012.

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill, what discussions he has had with the Health and Safety Executive on the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012.

Mims Davies: The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has not received any specific representations from external organisations on the potential merits of retaining the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012, however they have been mentioned as a set of regulations that should be retained in several pieces of correspondence and parliamentary questions. Officials from HSE are actively engaging with a wide range of stakeholders as part of their day-to-day business, covering many matters. HSE has good working knowledge to inform any decisions they need to make in relation to their approach with the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill (REUL Bill). If required, HSE has various established channels of communication with stakeholders to obtain supplementary information. HSE has discussed and agreed its plans for retained EU Law (REUL) with DWP Ministers. An amendment was tabled on 10 May 2023 to replace the current sunset clause in the REUL Bill with a schedule of all the REUL that government departments intend to revoke by the end of 2023. The schedule includes REUL identified for revocation by HSE and any remaining REUL will be retained including the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012. This is subject to the amendment being passed.

Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill, whether the Government plans to retain the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012.

Mims Davies: An amendment was tabled on 10 May 2023 to replace the current sunset clause in the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill with a schedule of all the retained EU laws (REUL) that government departments intend to revoke by the end of 2023. The schedule includes REUL identified for revocation by the Health and Safety Executive and any remaining REUL will be retained including the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012. This is subject to the amendment being passed.

Food Banks

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department have made of trends in the distribution of food parcels in (a) Newcastle upon Tyne Central (b) the North East and (c) the UK.

Mims Davies: Foodbanks are independent, charitable organisations and HM Government does not have any role in their operation. As such, data on trends in the distribution of food parcels in Newcastle upon Tyne Central, the North East, and the UK is not available. This government is committed to understanding and addressing poverty which is why we have published official estimates of foodbank use for the first time in March 2023. National statistics on food bank use for 2021/22 are available here. We aim to publish statistics for 2022/23 in March 2024. In 2021/22, 3% of individuals, or 2.1m people, were living in households where a food bank has been used in the 12 months prior to the interview. In 2021/22, 4% of households in the North East used a food bank in the 12 months prior to the interview. Statistics are not available at the constituency level. This Government is committed to a sustainable long-term approach to tackling poverty and supporting people on lower incomes and we will spend around £276bn through the welfare system in 2023/24 including around £124bn on people of working age and children and around £152 billion on pensioners. Of this, around £77 billion will be spent on benefits to support disabled people and people with health conditions. (GB, includes non-DWP spend, prices in 23-24 terms). Over 8 million UK households on eligible means tested benefits will receive additional Cost of Living Payments totalling up to £900. More than eight million pensioner households across the UK will receive an additional £300 Cost of Living Payment during winter 2023-24 and over 6 million people across the UK on eligible ’extra-costs’ disability benefits will receive a further £150 Disability Cost of Living Payment during summer 2023-24, to help with the additional costs they face. For those who require extra support, the Government is providing an additional £1 billion of funding, including Barnett impact, to enable a year-long extension of the Household Support Fund in England this financial year. This is on top of what we have already provided since October 2021, bringing total funding to £2.5 billion. It will be for the devolved administrations to decide how to allocate their additional Barnett funding. Newcastle upon Tyne has been allocated £5,796,808 for the period 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024 to support those most in need with the cost of essentials, including those who may not be eligible for other Government support.

Ministry of Defence

Ukraine: Radicalism

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Answer of 17 March 2022 on Question 139579 on Ukraine: Radicalism, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the potential role of Azov movement founder Andriy Biletsky in Ukraine's military operations in Bakhmut.

Mr Ben Wallace: Decisions regarding Ukraine's military operations are the responsibility of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Ukraine: CASOM

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Storm Shadow missiles are being gifted to Ukraine; and at what cost to the public purse.

Mr Ben Wallace: Details on numbers of missiles provided cannot be shared for reasons of operational security.

Ukraine: CASOM

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of (a) the (i) military and (ii) other risks of providing Storm Shadow missiles to Ukraine and (b) the potential impact of supplying those missiles on the safety of (A) defence munition centres and (B) their neighbouring population.

Mr Ben Wallace: We keep potential risks under constant review when supplying equipment to Ukraine.

Ukraine: CASOM

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether any of the Storm Shadow missiles gifted to Ukraine are (a) assembled, (b) stored and (c) serviced at DM Beith.

Mr Ben Wallace: Due to security reasons we will not disclose locations of the storage, assembly or servicing of weapons that have been granted in kind to Ukraine.

Defence: UK Relations with EU

Alyn Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether it is his policy to increase defence cooperation with the EU outside of the UK's cooperation obligations to EU countries under NATO.

Mr Ben Wallace: As we committed in the Integrated Review Refresh, the Ministry of Defence will develop new forms of cooperation with the EU, including on defence. We have enjoyed steadily increased defence engagement with the EU over the past year, including through coordinating our respective provision of training and military equipment to Ukraine, our efforts to maintain stability in the Western Balkans and work to strengthen NATO-EU cooperation. We will continue to look for areas of cooperation, where it is in our shared interests. NATO remains the bedrock of our security, but we recognise that the EU can reinforce NATO activity and make an important contribution to European security, particularly when it comes to sanctions, energy security, countering disinformation and civilian-military crisis management.

Defence Equipment: Procurement

Chris Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Committee of Public Accounts report entitled MoD Equipment Plan 2022–2032, HC 731, published on 19 April 2023, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his Department's policies.

James Cartlidge: The Department does not recognise the claims of a broken procurement system in the Public Account Committee’s report. The MOD is committed to driving effective delivery of capability to the front line and this is reflected in overall performance. The majority of our programmes deliver on or ahead of time and budget.The Public Account Committee’s claim that the Equipment Plan does not align with the lessons learnt from the Ukraine conflict is unsubstantiated. The events in Ukraine have largely confirmed our 2019 warfighting analysis that underpins in the Equipment Plan and Defence and Security Industrial Strategy.The MOD has been at the forefront of ensuring that the supplies get into Ukraine as soon as possible in response to the conflict as it evolves. We have trained over 15,000 recruits and provided £2.4 billion of support, including artillery ammunition, as well as leading the world on the gifting of vital capabilities, such as multiple-launch rocket systems, Challenger 2 tanks and now Storm Shadow missiles.

AWACS: Procurement

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 4 May 2023 to Question 182507 on AWACS: Procurement, what the cost to the public purse of each MESA radar will be.

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 4 May 2023 to Question 182507 on AWACS: Procurement, what plans he has for use of the two MESA radars originally planned for aircraft four and five.

James Cartlidge: The cost of procurement for the Multi-Role Electronically Scanned Array (MESA) radar was around £60 million each; parts from the radars originally planned for aircraft four and five will be retained for spares allowing a saving/offset of initial procurement and future sustainment requirements from the overall programme cost. They will also add resilience to the spares supply chain to benefit aircraft availability.

Unmanned Air Vehicles: Procurement

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what is the (a) initial operating capability and (b) full operating capability dates for the Protector drone programme.

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he expects the first Protector drones to enter service with the Royal Air Force.

James Cartlidge: On current planning Protector is expected to enter RAF service in late 2024, with an Initial Operating Capability declared in 2025. The projected Full Operating Capability date will be confirmed later.

Ministry of Defence: Consultants

Chris Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much from the public purse his Department spent on external management consultants (a) between 31 March 2022 and 30 March 2023 and (b) since 31 March 2023.

James Cartlidge: The Department does not categorise expenditure for management consultancy separately from overall consultancy spend and therefore this element cannot be separated out.

Ministry of Defence: Consultants

Chris Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much from the public purse his Department spent on external consultants (a) between 31 March 2022 and 30 March 2023 and (b) since 31 March 2023.

James Cartlidge: The Department maintains a central record of overall consultancy expenditure which is disclosed as part of the Annual Report and Accounts (ARAC).The most recent available figure for the Department's overall spend on consultancy can be found in the Annual Report and Accounts for Financial Year 2021-22. For ease of reference the value reported was £204.974 million.

Ministry of Defence: Stationery

Chris Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much from the public purse his Department spent on office supplies (a) between 31 March 2022 and 30 March 2023 and (b) since 31 March 2023.

James Cartlidge: The Department's expenditure on office supplies was £9,389,274 from 1 April 2022 - 31 March 2023. The Department has spent £1,023,028 on office supplies since 1 April 2023.

Nigeria: Arms Trade

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what information his Department holds on the quantity of small arms sent by UK businesses to Nigeria in the last 12 months.

James Cartlidge: The Ministry of Defence does not hold details on the quantity of small arms sent to Nigeria by UK businesses.Information on export licences issued to UK business is held with the Department of Business and Trade as the licensing authority on exporting strategic goods. HM Government publishes the Official Statistics (on a quarterly and annual basis) on export licences granted, refused and revoked to all destinations: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/strategic-export-controls-licensing-data. These reports contain detailed information, including the overall value, the type and a summary of the items covered by these licences.

Military Bases: Sales

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Departments paper entitled A Better Defence Estate published in November 2016, whether it remains his Departments to dispose of sites at (a) Buckley, (b) Thornhill and (c) Meadowforth Barracks.

James Cartlidge: The Department intends to retain these sites for an enduring military use.

Ministry of Defence: Land

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 20 February 2023 Question 142628, on Ministry of Defence: Land if he will provide that data set for (a) Wales, (b) North West, (c) Yorkshire and the Humber, (d) West Midlands, (e) East Midlands and (f) East of England excluding Ordnance Survey licensed data and data of a sensitive nature.

James Cartlidge: The Ministry of Defence is unable to provide the data set for Wales, North West, Yorkshire and the Humber, West Midlands, East Midlands and East of England, excluding Ordnance Survey licensed data and data of a sensitive nature.The data set requested consists wholly of Ordnance Survey licensed data, and data of a sensitive nature. If this data were to be removed, there would be no data remaining.

Military Bases: Sales

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 2 May 2023 to Question 182492 on Military Bases, for what reasons his Department does not plan to publish job roles or descriptions for staff working on the Defence Estate Optimisation Portfolio.

James Cartlidge: There is no plan to publish the job descriptions for staff working on the Defence Estate Optimisation Portfolio as this would incur disproportionate cost.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Animal Experiments: Cosmetics

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will review her Department's policies on the testing cosmetic products on animals.

Rebecca Pow: The Home Office is responsible for animal testing. The Home Secretary made a statement which can be found here.

River Colne: Pollution

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she had made an assessment of the implication for her policies of the Colne Valley Fisheries Consultative report entitled Micropollutants and the River Colne, published 12 April 2023.

Rebecca Pow: Since the 2000s, we have increased monitoring and either banned or highly restricted a number of pollutants both domestically and internationally. We continue to work at pace to assess the levels of pollutants occurring in the environment, their sources and potential risks to inform future policy and regulatory approaches. We take all robust evidence and analysis available into account, including the Colne Valley Fisheries Consultative report, when developing policies We will share details of further actions in the upcoming UK Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) Work Programmes and Chemicals Strategy later this year.

Canal and River Trust: Finance

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent progress the Government has made on publishing the outcome of the grant settlements for the Canal and River Trust.

Rebecca Pow: The Government’s review of the grant funding for the Canal and River Trust is ongoing. We expect to announce the decision on future grant funding shortly.

Animal Welfare

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether it remains her policy to implement the Action Plan for Animal Welfare, published on 12 May 2021.

Rebecca Pow: We plan to take forward our ambitious agenda of animal welfare and conservation reforms, as outlined in the 2021 Action Plan for Animal Welfare, during the current Parliamentary session and beyond. We will continue to introduce and support legislative and non-legislative reforms when we can.

Flood Control: Somerset

David Warburton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that Somerset is more resilient to future flood risk.

Rebecca Pow: Somerset has seen significant investment in recent years and has benefitted from the formation of the Somerset Rivers Authority partnership. Over £80 million of investment since 2014 in flood risk interventions helps the Environment Agency better manage flooding. It allows the Environment Agency to take pre-emptive action to delay the onset of flooding, to evacuate the waters more effectively. Together this enables communities to be more resilient and to recover more rapidly from flooding. The below investment was delivered in 2014/15:£6m on dredging, financed by DEFRA, delivered by the Environment Agency£20m on raising roads and drainage improvements financed by Department of Transport delivered by Somerset County Council£20m on repairing flood damage to assets from Defra Flood defence grant-in-aid£13m on improvements to the Sowy and Kings Sedgemoor Drain from Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership£3.5m on Pumping station extra capacity and improvements at Aller and Westonzoyland£500k improvements to the Parrett and Tone hydraulic model. The Environment Agency are continuing to invest in Somerset, this includes maintaining existing defences and also helping communities to adapt and become more resilient in the face of a changing climate. Ongoing investment includes: Bridgwater Tidal Barrier scheme – investment of over £128m – Operational barrier by 2026.Dunball Sluice refurbishment – total investment of around £3.6m. Delivery by 2024Pumping Station upgrades – Project to invest around £5.5m. Complete by 2025Reservoir improvement investment (public safety) – Investment Program of £19m – Delivery complete by 2027Taunton Strategic Flood Alleviation Improvements – Council have agreed £6m funding in 3 interventions:1. River Tone left bank defence improvements, Frieze Hill to Town Bridge2. Raising of Firepool lockgate and defences between the River Tone and the Bridgwater to Taunton Canal (TTC10)3. Longrun Meadows - optimising flood water storage. Communities in Ilminster, Chard and Minehead are also benefitting from recently approved investment to help reduce flood risk. The Environment Agency and Somerset Council have secured funding from the Frequently Flooded Allowance fund to carry out investigative studies on what future flood risk interventions are required.

River Thames: Boats

Dominic Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the Environment Agency’s enforcement of illegal moorings in the non-tidal Thames.

Rebecca Pow: Operational matters on inland waterways are the responsibility of the relevant navigation authority, such as in this case the Environment Agency’s enforcement of illegal moorings on the non-tidal Thames. The Environment Agency waterways department as part of Defra is aware of all mooring issues or potential reported issues on its land. The intelligence is captured and collated in the Environment Agency navigation enforcement team’s Tactical Assessment (Thames). The document includes mooring and trespass issues on Environment Agency land only and helps prioritise and deliver outcomes. Trespass and mooring issues not relating to the Environment Agency fall under riparian landowners’ or other navigation authorities’ responsibilities. The Tactical Assessment is a classified document and deemed as sensitive and would not be shared with the public. The Thames Enforcement Plan for the Environment Agency Non-Tidal Thames, which gives an overview of enforcement actions and priorities for 2023/2024, can be viewed here: Non-Tidal River Thames Regulation and Enforcement Plan 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

River Thames: Boats

Dominic Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Environment Agency shares data on the enforcement of illegal moorings in the non-tidal Thames with her Department; and if her Department will publish that data by local authority area.

Rebecca Pow: The Environment Agency works with partner agencies to improve compliance on the non-tidal Thames, sharing outcomes with local authority areas and stakeholders alike. However, intelligence and ongoing enforcement actions are not shared with the public due to legal privilege and GDPR rules and regulations. More information relating to enforcement on the non-tidal Thames can be viewed on the Non-Tidal River Thames Regulation and Enforcement Plan 2023/2024: Non-Tidal River Thames Regulation and Enforcement Plan 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Adani

Martin Docherty-Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether (a) he, (b) Ministers in his Department and (c) officials in his Department have met (i) Gautam Adani and (ii) representatives of the Adani Group in the last five years.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: No FCDO ministers have met Gautam Adani or Adani Group officials in the last five years. FCDO officials regularly meet representatives of major international businesses, including representatives of the Adani Group.

Iran: Visits Abroad

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he plans to visit Iran in the next 12 months.

David Rutley: There are presently no plans for the Foreign Secretary to visit Iran in the next 12 months.

Israel: Foreign Relations

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to foster greater relations with Israel.

David Rutley: The bilateral relationship between the UK and Israel has never been stronger. The Foreign Secretary signed the 2030 roadmap for UK-Israel bilateral relations alongside Israeli Foreign Minister Cohen on 21 March. The roadmap serves as a 'living' document, whereby through regular high-level engagement, our bilateral relationship will continue to evolve as a more innovative and forward-looking strategic partnership. We will upgrade the institutional mechanisms that enable us to achieve goals across our mutual priorities, including strategic dialogue, diplomacy, parliamentary, academic cooperation, regional cooperation, and multilateral cooperation.

Iran: UN Human Rights Council

Nicola Richards: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions his Department has had with representatives of (i) the UN and (ii) other countries on the appointment of Iran as chair of the UN Human Rights Council Social Forum announced on 10th May 2023.

David Rutley: The Iranian government is responsible for persistent, widespread and serious human rights violations and can have no international credibility in this sphere. This is why we worked with partners in December to ensure Iran was expelled from the UN Commission on the Status of Women. The Social Forum is a subsidiary body of the UN Human Rights Council which the UK does not traditionally attend. The chair rotates between members' ambassadors according to region. The UK will continue to work closely with our partners to hold Iran to account in international fora; to that end we regularly meet with UN representatives, both in the UK and overseas through UK Missions in Geneva, New York and around the world.

Israel: Diplomatic Service

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he plans to further enhance the UK mission in Tel-Aviv.

David Rutley: The Foreign Secretary is grateful for the hard work of British diplomats in Tel Aviv. We have no plans to enhance their presence at this time.

Israel: Palestinians

Sir Robert Buckland: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to help deescalate violence in Gaza.

David Rutley: On 10 May, the Minister of State for the Middle East, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, made clear the UK condemns the indiscriminate rocket fire from Gaza targeting innocent civilians in Israel, that attacks on civilians are unacceptable, and that violence must stop. The UK welcomes the announcement of a ceasefire between Israel and militant factions in Gaza, brokered by Egypt. The ceasefire must now be honoured to prevent the loss of further civilian life. The UK will support all efforts to promote dialogue and create a pathway towards sustainable peace.

British Overseas Territories: Cybersecurity and Espionage

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to help the Overseas Territories respond to hybrid threats from hostile state actors in (a) cyber, (b) information, (c) media and (d) political domains.

David Rutley: The UK holds responsibility to support all Overseas Territories to safeguard from threats to their internal and external security. This includes from hostile state actors. The FCDO and the Home Office provide a wide range of support to the Overseas Territories in this regard. This includes a UK police superintendent and temporary Commissioner seconded to Montserrat police; a 16-strong serious crime investigation team deployed in the Turks and Caicos Islands; and establishing a vetting agency in the British Virgin Islands.The Home Office is also conducting National Cyber Risk Assessments across the Overseas Territories to identify potential vulnerabilities and risks to critical national infrastructure. Recommendations on mitigation of those risks are provided as part of these assessments, as is support for implementation.We will continue to explore ways in which the Overseas Territories can maintain international support in countering hostile actors.

Passports: Educational Visits

Alyn Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on the potential merits of introducing collective passports for educational groups visiting the UK.

Leo Docherty: The Foreign Secretary regularly speaks to his counterparts on a range of issues.The UK is a signatory to the 1961 Council of Europe treaty which provides for collective passports for young people. Continued acceptance of these passports from those who have ratified the treaty is current practice. The UK has not left the Council of Europe.Whilst it remains current policy to continue to accept collective passports issued by signatories to the treaty, as part of our Points Based Immigration System, it is our intention to move to a position where everyone obtains an individual permission from the Home Office in advance of travel and so in the future we are likely to require individual documents.It should be noted several EU countries have declared they will no longer accept a collective passport issued by the UK under this treaty.

Ukraine: Reconstruction

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what his Department’s (a) process and (b) criteria was for selecting attendees for the Ukraine Recovery Conference; and if he will place a copy of the attendees list in the House of Commons Library.

Leo Docherty: As co-hosts for the Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC), the programme and attendance at the Conference has been agreed between the Governments of Ukraine and the United Kingdom. In addition to the countries and organisations who have participated in previous URCs, we have also invited representatives from Africa, Asia, the Middle East and South America, recognising the economic consequences of the war globally. Over 400 international businesses have also been invited to promote the strength and potential of the private sector to support Ukraine's recovery. Representatives from Ukrainian and international civil society have been selected from across sectors with a criteria of diversity and representation across national, regional and local levels. We are considering how to share information on conference participants.

Department for Education

Sports: Schools

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support the handball sport fives within the state sector school system.

Nick Gibb: The PE and Sport curriculum is designed to ensure that all pupils become increasingly competent and confident in a broad range of competitive sport and physical exercise. Schools are free to decide which sports to provide to meet the needs of all their pupils.On 8 March 2023, the Government announced funding to support PE and School Sport. This funding announcement included confirmation that the PE and Sport Premium would continue for the 2023/24 and 2024/25 academic years, providing over £600 million to primary schools in England. The Government also confirmed £22 million of further funding for the School Games Organiser network for two years, and up to £57 million in funding for the Opening School Facilities programme, which will support increased provision of after school sport.

Pupil Premium: Students

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the impact of school closures during lockdown on the attainment of pupil premium students.

Nick Gibb: To understand the effect of COVID-19 disruption on the attainment and progress of pupils, the Department conducted research into academic progress over the 2020/21 and 2021/22 academic years with Renaissance Learning and the Education Policy Institute. This was published on 28 March 2022 and included data from the first half of the 2021/22 autumn term. The findings from this research are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupils-progress-in-the-2020-to-2022-academic-years.The research found that pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds, those eligible for free school meals at some point over the last 6 years, had on average experienced a greater effect on their academic progress than their non-disadvantaged peers.The Department knows that the education of disadvantaged children has been particularly affected by the impacts of COVID-19 and the Department is committed to helping these pupils to recover and to close the attainment gap. For this reason, recovery programmes, such as the Recovery Premium, the National Tutoring Programme and 16-19 Tuition Fund, are especially focused on helping the most disadvantaged. In total, the Department has made available almost £5 billion for a multi year education recovery plan to support pupils to catch up on missed education.Further to the recovery funding, the Department continues to provide schools with the pupil premium, which is additional funding for state funded schools to improve education outcomes for disadvantaged 5–16 year olds in England. Pupil premium rates have increased by 5% for the 2023/24 financial year, taking total pupil premium funding to £2.9 billion.

Schools: Uniforms

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools her Department has contacted about complaints from parents relating to uniform policy costs since 10 May 2023.

Nick Gibb: At the time of writing, the Department has not contacted any schools about complaints relating to uniform policy costs since 10 May 2023.

Schools: Uniforms

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an impact assessment of the statutory guidance entitled Cost of school uniforms, published in November 2021.

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the (a) strengths and (b) weaknesses of the Education (Guidance about Costs of School Uniforms) Act 2021.

Nick Gibb: In line with standard procedures, the Department conducted relevant and proportionate impact assessments during the development of the draft guidance.The Department will continue to assess the impact of the cost of school uniform guidance through continued engagement with key stakeholders, including through correspondence received by the Department from parents, head teachers and uniform suppliers.

Special Educational Needs: Young People

Tom Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether parents with young people with SEND have applied to the Fair Access Protocol.

Nick Gibb: The Department does not hold information on which children are referred to local Fair Access Protocols.Parents do not apply for a school place via the Fair Access Protocol directly. Parents are referred to the Protocol when they are having difficulty in securing a school place in-year, and it can be demonstrated that reasonable measures have been taken to secure a place through the usual in-year admission procedures.Children with special educational needs, disabilities or medical conditions but without an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan are eligible for the Fair Access Protocol. Paragraph 3.17 of the Schools Admissions Code outlines the groups of children who are eligible for a place via the Fair Access Protocol.All children whose EHC plan names a school must be admitted to the school.

Education: Social Class

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to tackle the attainment gap between pupils from different socioeconomic backgrounds.

Nick Gibb: Closing the attainment gap between disadvantaged and non disadvantaged pupils is a priority for the Department.The Department has made progress in narrowing the gap over the ten years prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, narrowing the gap between disadvantaged children and other children by 13% at Key Stage 2 and 9% at Key Stage 4 between 2011 and 2019.The Schools White Paper, published in March 2022, set out a long term vision for a school system that helps every child to fulfil their potential by ensuring that they receive the right support, in the right place, at the right time, founded on achieving world class literacy and numeracy.The Department provides Pupil Premium funding to schools to raise the attainment of disadvantaged children. In the 2023/24 financial year, spending on Pupil Premium increased to almost £2.9 billion. The Department also launched the National Tutoring Programme (NTP) in November 2020, a scheme providing support for pupils most affected by disruption to their education because of the pandemic. In 2022/23, the Department provided £349 million of NTP funding directly to schools to enable them to decide how best to provide tutoring for their pupils, either through academic mentors, outsourced tuition partners or school led tutoring.The Department has identified 55 Education Investment Areas (EIAs), where educational outcomes were the weakest. These EIAs will commit up to £86 million in trust capacity funding until March 2025, the Levelling Up Premium offering higher payments worth up to £3,000 tax-free per year to maths, physics, chemistry and computing teachers working in EIAs, and up to £150 million for extending the Connect the Classroom programme to upgrade schools that fall below the Department’s Wi-Fi connectivity standards.The Department will also be making additional funding in 24 Priority EIAs (PEIAs), selected due to their low performance and economic deprivation. In these PEIAs, the Department has established local partnership boards to identify actions to improve literacy and numeracy and provided up to £42 million in additional funding for bespoke interventions to improve attainment at Key Stages 2 and 4, alongside other interventions.

Teachers: Greater London

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of teachers in (a) Enfield North constituency, (b) the London Borough of Enfield and (c) London who have left the profession in the last (i) one, (ii) two and (iii) five years.

Nick Gibb: Information on the school workforce, including the number of teachers leaving service nationally, is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.The table below provides the full-time equivalent (FTE) number of qualified teachers leaving, and the leaving rate, from state funded schools in the London Borough of Enfield, London (inner and outer) and England for academic years 2016/17 to 2020/21 (the latest data available). The requested figures by parliamentary constituency are not available.Full-time equivalent (FTE) qualified teachers leaving and leaving rate1 from state-funded schools as at November 2016 to 2020Enfield local authorityLondon (inner & outer)EnglandLeaversLeaving rateLeaversLeaving rateLeaversLeaving rate2020/2122839.07,0529.736,2628.12019/202347.66,0648.532,2497.32018/1933410.68,11511.441,1509.42017/182989.68,29611.743,1029.82016/1735310.89,09012.646,66710.6Source: School Workforce Census1: Leaving rate is the number of leavers divided by the total number of qualified teachers in post in November each year2: For example, 2020/21 leavers are those who left service between November 2020 and November 2021.Leavers are defined as qualified teachers leaving the state funded sector in England, for example due to a change of career or joining other UK education sectors and those leaving on career breaks such as maternity leave or secondments outside of the school sector. Some of these teachers may re-join a state funded school in England at a later date.Almost 9 in 10 (87.5%) teachers who qualified in 2020 were still teaching one year after qualification, and just over two thirds (68.8%) of teachers who started teaching five years ago are still teaching.As at November 2021 (latest data available) there were 465,500 FTE teachers working in state funded schools in England, of which 75,700 were in inner and outer London and 3,200 were in Enfield. This is an increase of 4,400 since the previous year (7,000 increase in London and 120 in Enfield).One of the Department’s priorities is to ensure that we continue to attract, retain and develop the highly skilled teachers needed to inspire the next generation.The Department has set out a range of measures to make teaching an increasingly attractive profession, including bursaries worth up to £27,000 and scholarships worth up to £29,000, to encourage talented trainees to key subjects such as mathematics, physics, chemistry, and computing for those starting teacher training in 2023/24.In addition, through the Department’s Levelling Up Premium, specialist teachers in the first five years of their career will be able to receive up to £3,000 tax-free each year from 2022/23 to 2024/25.The Department has made good progress towards raising starting salaries to £30,000, with all new teachers to earn at least £28,000 from September – an 8.9% uplift, alongside a 5% pay award for more experienced teachers and leaders.The Department is taking action to improve teacher quality and pupil outcomes by transforming the training and support provided for teachers, and attracting more people to teaching and enabling them to succeed.The Department will deliver 500,000 teacher training and development opportunities by 2024, giving all teachers and headteachers access to world class, evidence based training and professional development at every stage of their career.The Department has made a pay offer to unions that was fair, reasonable, and recognised teachers’ hard work. As per the Department’s published calculations, the pay offer would also have been fully funded, and we welcome the Office for Statistics Regulation’s recognition that we have communicated this transparently.Just last week, thousands of schools received additional funding, as part of the extra £2 billion of funding the Department is providing both this year and next. As a result, school funding will be at its highest level in history next year, as measured by the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

Teachers: Greater London

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the impact of Outer London pay scales on (a) recruitment and (b) retention of teachers in (i) the London Borough of Hounslow and (ii) Outer London.

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has carried out an impact assessment on the impact of Outer London pay scales on teacher recruitment.

Nick Gibb: This Government is concentrating funding in the teaching profession with school funding in 2024/25 due to reach its highest level in history per pupil, and in real terms, as measured by the Institute for Fiscal Studies.The Department implemented in full the School Teachers’ Review Body’s (STRB) recommendations for the 2022/23 academic year of an 8.9% pay rise for early career teachers outside London, and a 5% pay rise for experienced teachers. This is the highest pay award in 30 years.This uplift raised starting salaries to over £32,400 in Outer London, including Hounslow. The Department hopes that further rises next academic year will see starting salaries reach £30,000 in all areas of England, ensuring that they are competitive relative to alternative professional graduate starting salaries.Decisions on pay ranges and allowances, such as the London pay scales, are based on recommendations by the STRB, the independent body that advises on teachers’ pay and conditions. This year’s written evidence to the STRB sets out the Government’s thinking on pay awards this year, detailing how these need to strike a careful balance between recognising the vital importance of public sector workers, whilst not increasing the country’s debt further or exacerbating inflation. The evidence includes an assessment of recruitment and retention trends broken down geographically, including for areas such as Outer London. The final pay award decisions for the 2023/24 academic year will be determined later this year.The Department announced a financial incentives package of up to £181 million for those starting Initial Teacher Training in the 2023/24 academic year, a £52 million increase on the last cycle. The Department is providing bursaries worth up to £27,000 and scholarships worth up to £29,000 to encourage trainees to apply to train in key secondary subjects such as mathematics, physics, chemistry, and computing.The Department also provides a Levelling Up Premium worth up to £3,000 annually for mathematics, physics, chemistry, and computing teachers in the first five years of their careers who work in disadvantaged schools nationally, including within Education Investment Areas. The eligibility criteria and list of eligible schools is on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/levelling-up-premium-payments-for-teachers.

Literacy: Primary Education

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to improve literacy rates among children qualifying for pupil premium and free school meals in primary schools.

Nick Gibb: The Government is committed to continuing to raise literacy standards to ensure that all children, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds, can read fluently and with understanding. The first five years of a child’s life provide a critical opportunity to close development gaps between disadvantaged children and their peers, particularly in reception year.In 2018, the Department launched the English Hubs Programme to improve the teaching of reading, with a focus on phonics, early language development and reading for pleasure. Since its launch, the Department has invested over £60 million in this programme to improve the teaching of reading. The English Hubs are currently delivering intensive support to over 1,000 partner schools, reaching approximately 50,000 pupils in Reception and Year 1.These schools contain an above average proportion of Free School Meal pupils, who are over represented in the programme, along with those schools underperforming in phonics.In 2022 the Department also launched the Accelerator Fund for English as part of the Government’s education recovery package. This was initially a £4 million fund targeted at 60 Local Authority districts identified as most in need of specialist intervention. Over 450 schools in those areas have been provided with funding to date to adopt a Department-validated phonics scheme and the training to implement this successfully. We have expanded the validated phonics scheme in 2023, committing £8.7 million further funding to roll it out nationally to up to 680 additional schools, of which £4.9 million will be from the Accelerator Fund.In addition to this, the Pupil Premium grant offers direct funding to schools to provide additional support to improve disadvantaged pupils’ outcomes. Pupil Premium rates will increase by 5% for 2023/24, a £180 million increase from 2022/23, taking total Pupil Premium funding to £2.9 billion.The Department is determined to continue to support pupils and schools in their recovery from the impact of the pandemic and have a comprehensive package of support in place. The Department’s £5 billion multi year recovery plan, including the Recovery Premium and the National Tutoring Programme, will support pupils to catch up, including the most disadvantaged.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Levelling Up Fund

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when his Department plans to announce the timetable for the next round of levelling up funding.

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when his Department expects to announce the timetable for the next round of levelling up funding.

Dehenna Davison: I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave to Question UIN 181062 on 26th April 2023.

Local Government: Cheshire

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent assessment he has made of adequacy of county deals in Cheshire and Warrington.

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent progress his Department has made on agreeing new devolution settlements with (a) Cheshire and Warrington and (b) other areas in England.

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the potential economic merits of further devolution.

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the potential economic merits of devolution in Cheshire.

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the potential financial merits of devolution in Cheshire.

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has had recent discussions with council leaders in Cheshire and Warrington on a county deal for that region.

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of agreeing a county deal without an elected mayor in Cheshire and Warrington.

Dehenna Davison: The Government remains committed to extending and deepening devolution further across England. We will continue to work with local government in England to establish and grow new mayoral combined authorities, combined county authorities, and county deals. Discussions with places to identify potential candidates for the next set of devolution deals are underway.The Government is particularly interested in exploring opportunities for devolution deals that will empower local leaders and communities where places want a directly elected leader or mayor, in line with the devolution framework published in the Levelling Up White Paper. Our existing mayors are already playing a powerful role in driving economic growth, improving public services and giving local areas a voice on the national stage.The Secretary of State set out in his Convention of the North speech that Cheshire and Warrington are among areas in which we are keen to see devolution, as the Minister for Levelling Up, I have agreed to meet with council leaders to discuss their devolution ambitions in the coming weeks, following the local elections.

Parking: Payment Methods

Mohammad Yasin: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of creating a nationwide scheme to allow people to top-up a prepayment card for use in public car parking facilities when they are unwilling or unable to make app based payments.

Dehenna Davison: Parking is the responsibility of local authorities and it is for them to determine what is best for their own area. Whilst central government has no remit to intervene in their daily affairs, it does have an interest in how car parks are managed and recognises the important link between parking provision and the vitality of our high streets and town centres. The Secretary of State recently wrote to all local authorities in England setting out his expectations that parking services for which councils are responsible for remain accessible.All local authorities have existing statutory duties to ensure that they do not discriminate in their decision making against older people or those with vulnerabilities. Local authorities should ensure that there are alternative provisions for parking payments available so that no part of society is digitally excluded.

Leasehold

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he plans to take steps to ensure statutory leaseholder protections apply to those leaseholders currently extending or varying their leases; and if he will make a statement.

Lee Rowley: We are aware that leaseholders protected under the statutory leaseholder protections in the Building Safety Act 2022 may no longer be protected if they have extended or varied their lease since 14 February 2022.We are looking at how we can extend the remit of the leasehold protections to cover circumstances where there was a qualifying lease, as at 14 February 2022, and where a new lease with an extended term has since been entered into. This would need to be done via primary legislation and we are looking to legislate to resolve this issue as soon as Parliamentary time allows.

Leasehold

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of abolishing leaseholds.

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps is he taking to help leaseholders to challenge excessive costs.

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of providing additional support for commonhold ownership of property.

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he plans to take steps to abolish the leasehold system.

Rachel Maclean: As set out previously, the Government remains committed to spreading the benefits of freehold ownership and to establishing commonhold for owners of flats.We have established the Commonhold Council - a partnership of industry, leaseholders and Government - to help prepare consumers and the market for the widespread take-up of commonhold.We also asked the Law Commission to make recommendations on how to invigorate the legal framework for commonhold. We are reviewing their proposals and will respond in due course.We have already ended ground rents for most new residential leases, and have announced that we will make it easier and cheaper for leaseholders to extend their lease or buy their freehold.Details of our future legislative approach will be set out in the usual way.

Public Buildings: Asbestos

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will consider the potential merits of allocating funds to local authorities for the removal of asbestos from public buildings.

Lee Rowley: I refer the Hon. Member to my answer to Question UIN 182793 on 2 May 2023.   Funding is available to local authorities through the Local Government Finance Settlement for 2023/24, the majority of which is un-ringfenced in recognition of local authorities being best placed to understand local priorities.

Home Office

Home Office: Holiday Leave

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications of the Employment Appeal Tribunal ruling in the 2017 case of Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council v Willetts & Ors for the calculation of holiday pay entitlement for staff in her Department; and if she will make a statement.

Chris Philp: The Home Office is working to assess the implications of this judgment and will continue discussions on potential measures to address this issue with Departmental trade unions.

Asylum

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps the Government has taken to support asylum seekers in the UK who are (a) living in relative poverty, (b) affected by mental health issues and (c) homeless.

Robert Jenrick: The Government is under a legal obligation to provide support to all asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute.The level of the weekly allowance is reviewed annually to ensure it meets the essential living needs of asylum seekers. From 21 December 2022, the government increased the main rate of asylum support that is provided under sections 4 and 95 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 to £45 per week on an interim basis. Asylum seekers also have access to free NHS care, which includes mental health services.

Asylum: RAF Scampton

Sir Edward Leigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department will take to maintain the runway at RAF Scampton in good working order while that site is being used to house asylum seekers.

Robert Jenrick: The Government values the rich heritage at RAF Scampton and is committed to preserving and enhancing the heritage assets at the site. The Home Office will not be using any of the heritage assets, including the runway, within our accommodation plans.  The Home Office has undertaken extensive engagement with Historic England. We are creating an Operational Management Plan (OMP) which will set out clear actions and responsibilities to protect the heritage assets at RAF Scampton.

Asylum: Questionnaires

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Asylum Claim Questionnaires were (a) sent to claimants and (b) received by her Department; and what proportion of responses were completely correctly.

Robert Jenrick: The exact number of questionnaires that have been sent to individuals and received back, and completed correctly, is not information currently held in a reportable format.

Asylum: Iran

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Iranian nationals have claimed asylum in the UK in each of the last five years.

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum seekers have been granted refugee status in the UK in the last 12 months.

Robert Jenrick: The Home Office publishes data on asylum claims by nationality in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on asylum applications by Iranian nationals are published in table Asy_D01 of the ‘asylum and resettlement detailed datasets’.Data on how many asylum seekers have been granted refugee status are published in table Asy_D02 of the ‘asylum and resettlement detailed datasets’.Information on how to use the datasets can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data relates to the end of December 2022. Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.

Asylum: Applications

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to take steps to negotiate deals with international counterparts to process asylum claims outside the UK.

Robert Jenrick: We are committed to working closely with international partners to tackle the global migration crisis and disrupt the business model of criminal gangs who are putting lives at risk. However, we are unable to comment on discussions that may be being held with other countries. The ground-breaking Partnership between the UK and Rwanda is a model that could be replicated elsewhere, and we are always willing to work with partners around the world to tackle this joint challenge.

Refugees: Afghanistan

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many principal applicants who received Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy eligibility letters from her Department and were refused entry to the UK by her Department on national security grounds have subsequently had that refusal withdrawn or overturned and have been allowed entry to the UK.

Robert Jenrick: The Home Office do not hold centralised data on this. The latest Immigration System Statistics, year ending December 2022, show that since their first arrivals in 2021, the Afghan schemes (ACRS and ARAP) have resettled a total of 21,387 people.

Undocumented Migrants

Lee Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if her Department will make an estimate of the number of migrants who have illegally arrived in the UK since 1 January 2023.

Robert Jenrick: The Home Office has published data on the number of migrants detected crossing the English Channel in small boats on a weekly basis since January 2023 which can be accessed here: Migrants detected crossing the English Channel in small boats - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)Data on the quarterly total number of attempts to enter the UK irregularly is published in the irregular migration to the UK statistics release within the ‘Irregular migration to the UK detailed dataset and summary tables’. This data is currently published up to end of December. Data for the next quarter (January to March 2023) is due to be published 25th May 2023.

Health Insurance: Visas

Gareth Bacon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made a recent assessment with Cabinet colleagues of the potential merits of requiring people to have a valid certificate of medical insurance before being granted an immigration visa.

Robert Jenrick: The Home Office and the Department of Health and Social Care undertake regular discussions on migrant access to healthcare, including the merits of private medical insurance versus other payment models. The government is committed to ensuring migrants make a suitable contribution to the NHS and cover the cost of their healthcare.Migrants coming to the UK for six month or more to work, study or join family are already required to pay the Immigration Health Surcharge, in lieu of private medical insurance, covering the duration of their immigration permission. The Immigration Health Surcharge is based on the Department for Health and Social Care estimates of the annual cost to the NHS of treating IHS payers.

UK Visas and Immigration: Correspondence

John Cryer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason the UK Visas and Immigration MPs' Enquiry Service requires letters of authority from visa applicants whose sponsor has contacted their MP about the progress of their application.

Robert Jenrick: The Data Protection Act 2018 requires large organisations such as the Home Office to ensure that we protect the individual rights and freedoms of the individuals (data subjects) whose information we process. We are not able to provide personal information as defined by the Data Protection Act 2018 to third parties, including sponsors with the explicit consent of the applicant. We therefore ask that sponsors provide letters of authority showing they have the applicant’s consent before providing personal information.Article 4 (11) of the GDPR defines consent and further conditions for consent are listed in Article 7.

Migrant Help: Correspondence

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 3 February 2023 to Question 132405 on Migrant Help: Members, whether her Department has agreements with any other organisations for the referral of correspondence from Members of Parliament to her Department's MP Account Management team.

Robert Jenrick: The Home Office does not have any other arrangements with other organisations.

Citizenship: Applications

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications for citizenship have exceeded her Department's service standard in the last six months.

Robert Jenrick: The Home Office publishes data on the processing of applications for British citizenship on the Gov.uk website. This includes performance against the six-month service standard for completing applications. The most recent Migration Transparency data published in February 2023 shows that 98.4% of straightforward applications were decided within six months.The link to the latest Migration transparency data can be found here:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/visas-and-citizenship-data-q4-2022.

Asylum: Questionnaires

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what was the cost to the public purse of Asylum Claim Questionnaires in each month since January 2023.

Robert Jenrick: The cost of Asylum Claim Questionnaires is not information currently held in a reportable format.

Detention Centres: Pregnant Women

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many women who were held in migrant detention while pregnant miscarried or experienced a still birth each year (a) before the implementation of the 72-hour detention limit in 2016 and (b) after the implementation of that limit.

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for the ten years up to and including 2016, how many midwife appointments on average did (a) pregnant women held in migrant detention centres and (b) pregnant women in the wider UK population have in the course of their pregnancy.

Robert Jenrick: The Home Office does not hold the information requested. Data on the total number of pregnant women detained in the immigration detention estate each quarter is published in table PWD_01 of the ‘Immigration Enforcement data: Q4 2022’. This data is only available from July 2016 and goes up to the end of September 2022. For data prior to 2010, see the archived Detention tables.

Asylum: Temporary Accommodation

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will set out her Departments specification for adequate (a) accommodation, (b) catering, (c) laundry facilities and (d) transport facilities for people seeking asylum who are non-detained; and if she will make a statement.

Robert Jenrick: The United Kingdom has a statutory obligation to provide destitute asylum seekers with accommodation and other support whilst their application for asylum is being considered as set out in the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999. The Act also sets out the need to meet essential living needs. The support package provided usually consists of accommodation and a weekly cash allowance to meet other essential living needs such as food, toiletries, travel and clothing. The support rate for those in contingency accommodation is intended to cover essential living items that are not met by the accommodation provider such as clothing, non-prescription medicine and travel. The Asylum Accommodation service providers identify suitable accommodation and ensure that it conforms to the accommodation standards and provision set out in Schedule 2 of the Asylum Accommodation and Support Contracts (AASC). The Statement of Requirements, available via the link below, sets out the full details of our contractual obligations:http://data.parliament.uk/DepositedPapers/Files/DEP2018-1112/AASC_-_Schedule_2_-_Statement_of_Requirements.pdf.

Detention Centres: Pregnant Women

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason pregnant women detained under the Illegal Migration Bill will not be subject to the 72 hour detention limit introduced in 2016; and what steps she has taken to assess the potential impact of the Illegal Migration Bill on pregnant women.

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many women each year who were held in migrant detention while pregnant died in the perinatal period (a) before the implementation of the 72-hour detention limit for pregnant women in 2016 and (b) after the implementation of that limit.

Robert Jenrick: It is important that we do not inadvertently create perverse incentives for evil people smuggling gangs to target particularly venerable groups. Therefore, pregnant women who come to the UK illegally and fall within the duty to remove will not be exempt from detention and removal under this Bill.The Home Office takes the welfare of those in detention seriously. We will only detain pregnant women when it is necessary and in appropriate accommodation with appropriate healthcare provisions.An equality impact assessment has been completed for the Illegal Migration Bill, and is available here: Illegal Migration Bill publications - Parliamentary Bills - UK Parliament.The Home Office are not aware that any women who have been pregnant whilst in immigration detention have died during their perinatal period.

Asylum: Questionnaires

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many completed Asylum Claim Questionnaires have been processed without the need for an interview in each month since January 2023.

Robert Jenrick: The number of Asylum Claim Questionnaires that have been processed without the need for an interview is not information currently held in a reportable format.

Asylum: Portland Port

Richard Drax: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department is taking steps to prevent the spread of any infectious diseases in Portland barge; and what assessment she has made of the potential public health impacts of housing asylum seekers in Portland Barge on (a) Dorset Council and (b) Dorset health authority.

Robert Jenrick: We take both the welfare of those in our care and our wider public health responsibilities extremely seriously.  At Manston, all asylum seekers are offered diphtheria vaccines and antibiotics upon arrival. The Home Office provides 24/7 health facilities at Manston, including trained medical staff and a doctor for all those on site. All asylum seekers undergo a health check upon arrival and, if needed people are taken to hospital for further care.The vessel will be managed by a specialist and experienced provider, which has a strong track record of providing this kind of accommodation, having managed the two vessels in Scottish ports for the past year.

Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

Research: India

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to her Department's press release UK and India sign landmark research agreement, published on 26 April 2023, whether funding for the collaborative activities to be carried out under the Memorandum of Understanding, listed as “Other UK-India Agreements”, is included within the £3.3 million of UK funding announced for the technology and skills partnership programme.

George Freeman: The technology and skills partnership programme is a stand alone UKRI programme in partnership with the Government of India. It does not include the funding for other collaborative activities listed in the press notice of 26 April.

Research: India

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to her Department's press release UK and India sign landmark research agreement, published on 26 April 2023: whether the £8.3 million of funding announced will be counted towards the (a) international or (b) domestic government science spend.

George Freeman: The Office for National Statistics aims to count research performed in the United Kingdom as part of UK domestic gross expenditure on R&D, but not research performed overseas. The £8.3 million of funding announced in the press notice published on 26 April forms part of the Government’s funding commitment to R&I and will be counted as part of this commitment. The memorandum of understanding and the funding announced in the press notice will support researchers in UK universities to develop collaborative research projects with leading researchers in India.

Department for Science, Innovation and Technology: Holiday Leave

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications of the Employment Appeal Tribunal ruling in the 2017 case of Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council v Willetts & Ors for the calculation of holiday pay entitlement for staff in her Department; and if she will make a statement.

Paul Scully: The Department is aware of the ruling and will reflect the position in its policies. The Department is still working through the mechanics of the recent Machinery of Government change. This includes finalising which staff will be transferred into the Department. It is therefore not yet possible to accurately assess the impact on the Department.

Mobile Phones and Internet: Prices

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what discussions she has had with representatives of Ofcom on price increases for (a) mobile and (b) internet contracts in the last 12 months.

Sir John Whittingdale: We recognise that this is a difficult time for families across the country who are struggling to pay their bills as a result of the global rise in the cost of living.My Department has engaged regularly with Ofcom over the past 12 months on a range of telecom consumer-related issues including the affordability of services.Ofcom - the independent regulator - has a statutory duty to monitor ongoing household affordability in the sector, and Part C of their General Conditions require telecoms companies to provide clear information about their contracts.On 9 February 2023, Ofcom announced a review into the transparency of in-contract price rises. Ofcom expects this review to conclude by the end of the year.

Broadband: Rural Areas

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to (a) promote access to high-speed broadband in rural areas and (b) help ensure that people benefit from digital technologies.

Sir John Whittingdale: In March 2021, the Government launched Project Gigabit, a £5 billion programme to bring lightning-fast, reliable broadband to premises in rural and hard-to-reach locations across the UK. We have already made over £1.4 billion of funding available to broadband suppliers to build gigabit-capable infrastructure to premises that will not be reached by suppliers’ commercial plans alone.The Government is also working to ensure that very hard to reach premises that may be unable to access a gigabit-capable connection also see an improvement in their connectivity. In April, the Government announced an £8 million fund to provide capital grants to further promote new satellite connectivity to up to the most remote 35,000 premises, helping these premises get improved broadband where required. Further details on the value of the grants, who will be able to apply for the scheme, and how to apply, will be released in due course.One of the Government’s priorities is to ensure that no one is left behind in the digital age. This includes people who do not have the access, skills, or motivation to use the internet. The UK’s Digital Strategy published in 2022 is clear that HM Government has a “vision to enable everyone, from every industry and across the UK, to benefit from all that digital innovation can offer.”To ensure that all people can benefit from digital technologies, we are working with providers to make access affordable for those who need it. We have worked with the industry to ensure there is a range of high-quality, low cost social tariffs for households in receipt of Universal Credit and other means tested benefits from as little as £10 per month. These are available in 99% of the UK. In addition in June 2022, leaders from broadband and mobile operators agreed on a set of industry commitments to help people through the global rise in the cost of living.Training is also available for adults wishing to acquire digital skills. To put essential digital skills for adults on an equal footing alongside English and Maths, as a third basic skill, the Department for Education introduced a new legal entitlement to study free high-quality Essential Digital Skills Qualifications (EDSQ); and from August 2023, new digital Functional Skills Qualifications (FSQ), at Entry Level 3 and Level 1. We also support the provision of essential digital skills training in community settings through the Adult Education Budget.